India-Russia joint military exercise this month

The international exercises will be conducted at the Mahajan field firing range in India's Rajasthan state and involve about 250 paratroopers of Russia's Eastern Command formation deployed in the Republic of Buryatia.

India will involve the same number of servicemen, Gordeyev said.

The military hardware (T-72 tanks, and BMP-2K and BMP-2 infantry fighting vehicles) would be provided by India, he said.

During the active phase of the exercise, Russian paratroopers will use ammunition of different calibre, the spokesman said.

The purpose of the exercise is to improve troops’ capabilities to search for, block and neutralise illegal armed formations, Gordeyev said.